The “Montpellier University of Excellence” Project Confirmed
Prime Minister Jean Castex has just confirmed the permanent continuation of the I-SITE Montpellier University of Excellence, following the recommendations of the international jury for the Idex-Isite investment-for-the-future program. This is great news for the University of Montpellier, which has been spearheading this project since 2017 with 15 partners based on campus. This decision confirms the relevance of the strategy defined in 2016 and the quality of the collective efforts undertaken to build an internationally recognized university capable of meeting the major challenges of the future.
Following a five-year probationary period, a midterm evaluation conducted in late 2019, and an on-site visit in late 2021, the evaluation process concluded on January 19 with a hearing before an international panel of the delegation led by Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, and composed of Antoine Petit, President and CEO of the CNRS, Gilles Bloch, President and CEO of Inserm; Elisabeth Claverie de Saint Martin, President and CEO of CIRAD; and François Pierrot, Executive Director of I-SITE MUSE.
Maintaining this designation is essential to establishing the University of Montpellier’s visibility on a national and international scale, based on a unique identity focused on three major global challenges: food security, environmental protection, and human health. This visibility is, of course, essential for the university and its direct partners, but it is also now an asset for the Montpellier Metropolitan Area and for the entire Occitanie region, with a university that has been awarded a label of excellence so highly prized in a globalized knowledge economy.
An unprecedented sense of community at the site
The MUSE project has proven its worth and demonstrated the power of a region-wide effort to bring everyone together—local governments, research organizations, healthcare institutions, partner schools, and businesses—around the University of Montpellier.
“Through this project, we have collectively demonstrated our ability to generate unprecedented momentum within our academic and scientific community to create a major university that serves as a driving force for its region and enjoys a strong international reputation. “This is a wonderful recognition of the collective effort undertaken by all the scientists, Professors, engineers, administrative staff, and students of the MUSE consortium,” explains Philippe Augé, president of theUM, who welcomes the government’s decision.
This project has had significant structural impacts on the campus, as evidenced by changes to the University of Montpellier’s bylaws, which have enabled better representation of partners within its governing bodies and the integration of the École Supérieure Nationale de Chimie de Montpellier as a constituent institution of theUM. Organized in this way, the University is well-positioned to play a pivotal role in serving students, the pursuit of knowledge, and innovation.
“The government’s decision to renew the I-Site Montpellier University of Excellence designation recognizes the work carried out by the University of Montpellier and all of the project’s partners since the designation was first awarded in 2017. It is a testament to the dynamism and excellence of research in Montpellier and the Occitanie region. The work carried out within the framework of MUSE on food security, environmental protection, and human health is fundamental to the future of our planet and aligns with the region’s strategic priorities. “We have a collective responsibility to deliver on these issues—to offer a promise to future generations and create momentum for our regions,” emphasized Carole Delga, president of the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region.
Building an internationally recognized university
Research advances, scientific publications, educational innovations, collaborations with the socio-economic sector, and international appeal… in addition to governance issues, it was indeed the full range of initiatives undertaken by the consortium to build an internationally recognized university that was presented to the international jury. Ranked among the world leaders in ecology according to the Shanghai Ranking’s subject-specific rankings—and having climbed 140 spots over five years to reach the top 200 in the Shanghai Ranking’s overall standings—UM is also one of the most innovative universities in Europe, according to the Reuters ranking. Montpellier’s hosting of the New Africa-France Summit in October 2020—represented at the University by the “Montpellier Global Days”—is a prime example of the University’s ability to serve as a “European gateway to the Global South.”
“To paraphrase Shakespeare, I like to think that being ‘great’ means embracing a great cause. That is what we set out to do by choosing three global challenges as our guiding vision. And, with this vision in mind—by working every day to ensure that excellence is not synonymous with misplaced elitism, but simply the path to follow in order to surpass oneself—we have laid the foundation for a Great University of Excellence,”says François Pierrot, Executive Director of I-SITE MUSE. “This thematic strategy and this rigorous approach have led to success for ISITE MUSE, but have also spurred others: the ExposUM project awarded under the ExcellenceS Future Investment Program (PIA), the SFRI IDIL program promoting interdisciplinarity and the internationalization of education, the UM2030 project selected by the IDEES PIA, as well as the University Innovation Hub designation and the implementation of the Occitanie Region’s key challenges.”
What now?
Making the I-SITE designation permanent ensures that the government grant (550 million euros in capital, or 17 million euros available annually, which will be supplemented by funds from other PIA initiatives), enables the University of Montpellier to continue its organizational development and stay on track by launching new initiatives for support, organizational development, and transformation across all academic fields to continue building a major multidisciplinary university.
*The IDEX/ISITE initiative, conceived in 2010 as part of the Investments for the Future Program, aims to foster the emergence in France of a limited number of research universities located in areas with remarkable scientific potential and capable of creating synergies among universities, colleges, research organizations, healthcare institutions, and businesses.
For more information, visit the MUSE project website: muse.edu.umontpellier.fr or umontpellier.fr